Chain carriage sheet feed rotary printing press



M y 1951 E. G. SIMMONS 2,551,060

CHAIN-CARRIAGE SHEET FEED ROTARY PRINTING PRESS Filed Nov. 6,, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 I nueuta r E. 51511 EiTI'ITI'IIIITIE Attorneys May 1, 1951 E. G. SIMMONS CHAIN CARRIAGE SHEET FEED ROTARY PRINTING PRESS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Invent/n A tlo rneys y 1951 E. G. SIMMONS 2,551,060

CHAIN CARRIAGE SHEET FEED ROTARY PRINTING PRESS Filed Nov. 6, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Inventor Patented May 1, 1951 CHAIN CARRIAGE SHEET FEED ROTARY PRINTING PRESS E. Glen Simmons, Kingsport, Tenn.

Application November 6, 1946, Serial No. 708,116

4 Claims.

. This invention relates to an improved construction of rotary printing press, and has for a primary object to provide a novel feeding arrangement for rotary printing presses whichwill imsure proper positioning of the sheets to be printed on an impression cylinder, so that the accuracy inherent ina flat bed type printing press may be obtained with the speed inherent in a rotary type printing press.

' More particularly, it is a primar object of the present invention to provide a chain carriage means for feeding the sheets to be printed and by means of which the sheets will be engaged and carried, without being released, from the feeder board to the delivery end of the press, thus simplifying the feeding operation of enabling the more accurate positioning of the sheets on the impression cylinder for engagement by the plate cylinder. v

g I Still another object of the invention is to provide novel means carried by and forming .a part of the feeding mechanism for engaging and effectively holding the sheets during their travel through the press, and which means is engageable with means on the impression cylinder for accurately positioning the paper gripping unit,

relatively thereto and while the sheet is traveling over the impression cylinder and receiving the impression from the plate cylinder. 7 V v Still a further object of the invention is to provide a feeding mechanism of the aforedescribed character especially adapted for use in multicolor printing, and by means of which a sheet may be conveyed between a plurality of impression and plate cylinders, without being released from the feeding mechanism to thus insure more accurate positioning of the sheet for each impression received.

.Various other objects and advantages ofrthe invention will hereinafter become more fullyapparent from the following description of the drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrating its adaptation to a single color printing, rotary type press;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view through a portion of the printing press;

Figure 3 isa plan view of the impression cyl- Figure 5 is a plan view of one of the register block guides, carried by the impression cylinder;

Figure 6 is an enlarged sectional view through portions of the impression cylinder and plate cylinder and showing the paper gripping mechanism disposed in the impression cylinder;

Figure 7 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the press and illustrating the means for opening the sheet gripping fingers, preparatory to engaging a sheet to be conveyed through the press;

Figure 8 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the structure as shown in Figure 7, and taken at a difierent angle with reference thereto;

Figure 9 is a cross sectional view, on a reduced scale, taken substantially along a plane as indi cated by the line 9-9 of Figure 8;

. Figure 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the feed mechanism and of a portion of the feeder board, showing the paper gripping mechanism approaching a position for engaging a sheet of paper to be fed from the board;

Figure 11 is a similar view showing the paper gripping mechanism opened and with the paper being fed thereto, similar to Figure 10, and

Figure 12 is a view similar to Figures 10 and 11 and showing the paper gripping mechanism closed and engaging the paper, and at the beginning of .the travel of the paper through the press.

Referringmore specifically to the drawings, the rotary printing press in its entirety and constituting the invention is designated generally I3 and includes a frame, designated generally 14 which includes corresponding side members l5 and I6 which are disposed substantiall upright and which extend longitudinally of the press l3. The side members l5 and iii are provided with outwardly projecting feet I! which are apertured to receive fastenings l8 for securing the frame 14 to any suitable supporting surface. The frame side I5 is shown broken away in Figure 1, for illustrating details of the press, hereinafter to be described, but it is to be understood that said side [5 corresponds to the side l6 and that both of said sides includes an upstanding frame portion [9.

An ink fountain 20 is mounted between the frame portions [9 and adjacent the upper parts thereof and has a fountain roller 2| journaled in the open rear side thereof and adapted to supply ink to a ductor roller 22 which forms a part of a stand of rollers, designated generally 23 and by means of which ink is applied to a printing plate 24 which is secured to a portion of the periphery of a plate cylinder 25. The stand of rollers 23 includes in addition to the roller 22, a steel drum roller 26, a plurality of drum vibrator rollers 21, which engage the roller 25, a rider roller 28, disposed beneath and engaged by the roller 26, a pair of steel vibrator rollers 29 and a plurality of form rollers 36, which engage the plate 24 during a portion ofeach rotation thereof. All of the rollers of the stand of rollers 23, are provided with shafts which extend therethrough or stub shafts which projects from the ends thereof, as seen at 3i, and which are journald in the'frame portions l 9, for rotatably supporting each ofthe rollers of the stand of rollers 23, therebetween,

which-are journaled in portions-of the side mem- 'bersl5 and Iii-and the frame It. Ashaft 35 is journaled in the side members l5 and [6, adjacent the discharge end of the press :3 and has -a-pair of sprocket wheels 36 keyed thereto and disposed on the inner side of and adjacent said side membersl5 and IS. A shaft or"a'xle 3l is -jurnaled adjacent the opposite'end of theframe M in the side members l and I6, is also provided -withapair of sprocket wheels 38, keyed thereto and disposed in longitudinal alignment with the sprocket wheels 36. The shaft-3?- and its sprocket wheels 38 are disposed beneath a' feeder board-39, having a forwardly anddown- "wardly' inclined feeder surface GIL-over which the paper l to be printed, isadapted to be'fed either mechanically -01"by handpa-ndin any conventional manner, well known in the printing art.

-A- pair of endless sprocket'chains 42 are trained over the aligned sprocket wheels 36 and 38 and are disposed for movement longitudinally of the machine l3 and in the direction as indicated by the'arrows 43, disposed adjacent the upper and lower-"flights of eachof the chains 42. As indicated' by the arrows, the ChainsflZ' are driven in a direction so that the upper flights thereof are 'moving from left to right of Figure 1 or toward the discharge end ofthe press l3,and'accordr ingly the sprocket wheels and shafts will rotate in clockwise'directions, asseen in Figurel. The

upper flights-of the-chains 32 are adaptedto move through annular grooves 44 in r the 'periphery of-the impressioncylinder 33'andadjacent the ends thereon-as best seen in Figure 3.

-'A- shaft or axle-'45 is journaled'transversely of the press l3 and in the frame sides l5 and I5 and disposed between the feeder .board 39 and the "cylinders 25 and =33. 46 is keyed to the shaft Mandeach of said wheels is disposed to mesh with the upper flight of one of A' pair'of sprocket wheels the chains 42' and on the upper side thereof,'for forcingsaid upper flights-"downwardly, asthey enter the grooves.

Theshaft 31 is preferably mounted in any conventional manner "for longitudinal adjustment,

for varying the tension of the chains 42,an'd

*either or both of the shafts-'35 and Murray be connected to suitable driving means, notfshown,

for driving the chains 42, in a manner conventional in the printing art. The shaft 45 is also adapted to bemounted for vertical adjustment in any 'suitable'manner; for varying the extent that the-sprocket wheelstfiwilldepress the upper flights of the chains 42 as they approach the grooves 44.

Corresponding portions of the chains 42 are connected at a plurality of points by paper gripping units, designated generally 4'! and each of which includes a pair of supporting plates 48, one of which is pivotally connected by a fastening 49 to the inner side of a link of each of the chains 42. 'Two: 'shafts150 and dLiare disposed between and connected at theirends to each pair of plates 48. The hafts 50 are disposed rearwardly of the shafts 51, as considered in view of their direction ofmovement;-and said shafts 50 are fixedly connected to the plates 48, and the shafts 5| are rotatably mounted therein. The paper gripping units 41 include a plurality of fixed gripper x'fingers52zand-53 which are supported by both of theshafts 50 and 5| of said units. The fixed gripper fingers 53, differ from the gripper fingers 52 only in that the free ends thereof terminate "in substantially triangular shaped portions 54 forming register blocks, fora purpose whichwill "hereinafter become apparent. Swingably mounted gripper fingers 55 are fixed at theirforward ends to the shaft ill of each unit 41, one of'said gripper fingers 55' being disposed in alignment with each of the fingers 52 and'53 and being normally disposed with its free end bearingagainst the upper side of its associated, fixed gripping finger, as. seen inFigures 4 and-8. A crank 56 is keyed'toeaCh of the shafts 5|, adjacent'one of the plates 48 thereof, and each'ofsaid cranks is provided with an inwardly projecting extension carrying' a roller-5T. --As best seenin Figure '7,

'the' frame I4 supports arod 58; which is disposed transversely thereof, and adjacent the shaft 31.

"Anarm 59 is keyed-to and-projects upwardly from the rod 58' and supports-a" laterally offset cam 68 on its upper end, which is disposed so that the under, rounded side thereof will ride over the rollers L51, of each unit '41, for depressing the 'crankfifi thereof and rotating the shaft 5|, as the unit 41 'pass'es"from' beneath the inclined feed board n for opening the fingers' 55, keyed thereto, for receiving" the' leading 'edgeof a s-heet'of paper,

as will hereinafter be morefully described,- and 'as-illustrate'd' in detail in Figures 10, ll'and 12.

Asimilarunit 58, -59- and 60 is disposed on the outer side of the shaftfor again engaging and opening the-fingers-ES "as'the gripper .iunits 41 move around the sprocket" wheels' 36, for a "purpose'hereinafter, tobe described.

A shaft-8| is journaled in the'frame sides i5 and land adjacent andiabove the inclinedfeed surface '48 and is "provided with a plurality" of .drop -guidesor feed fingers.62. The shaft 5| may be oscillatedin any'suitable manner to impart thereto an oscillating movement timedto the-move- -mentof the chains 42, so that, as a unit 41 reaches the position of Figure. 10,.la. sheet 4i lwilllbenfed :by the fingers 62 downwardly on the surface to position theleading edge of the sheet' ll .in .the openings formed by the stationary fingers 52 or 53 and; the pivoted'fingers and solthat the extending recessed portion-63' in the trailing :end

portion of .whichuisedisposedla. rodr-on-shaft 66 which extends longitudinally of the cylinder 33.

The shaft 64 mounts a plurality of packing clamps 65 which are adapted to clamp an end of a packing or cover strip 56 in the trailing end wall of therecess I53. The opposite end of the strip,.66

is fastened to a bar 61 mounted in the recess 53 and adjacent its leading end and the portions of the strip 53 therebetween are disposed around the periphery of the impression cylinder. The

shaft BI) also supports a number of fixed register block guides 68, as seen in Figure 5, which correspond in number to the fixed fingers 53, which are disposed so that the V-shaped notches 69" thereofwill receive the register blocks 54, when the gripper units 41 are disposed in the recess 63.

at all timeswhen-thepress I3 is; in operation, in a conventional manner. The cylinders 25 and 33 may be driven in any suitable manner timed to the movement of the chains 42 and the drop guides or feed fingers I5. v

Accordingly, as one of the gripper units 4] moves to-the position of Figure beneath the surface 4Il', the fingers 62 will advance a sheet 4|. toward and to the position of Figure 11, to be received in the openin s. formed by the fingers 52 or 53 and 5 5, as said fingers 55 are cammed to open position by engagement of the roller 51 with the cam 60, aspreviously described. As the roller 51 rides out from beneath the cam 60, fin-, gers 55 will return to closed positions of Figure 2, for engaging and conveying the sheet 4| toward the impression cylinder 33. The sprocket wheels 46 will press the chains 42 downwardly 7 and into the grooves 44 to thereby force the engagement with the sheet 4| to smoothly dispose it' over the packing strip 66 tov receive the im,, pression from the plate 24, as said'plate rides over the sheets 4 a An endless conveyor, designated generallyJI; including a plurality of endless tapes 12- as partially disclosed in Figure 1, has a forward end defined by a shaft I3 which is journaled in the sides'I5and I6 and beyond and adjacent'the sprocket wheels 36. The tapes I2 may be driven inany suitable manner sothat the upper flight thereof willmov e in a direction away from the frame I4 for conveying the printed sheets 4| away from the press I3, after printing. A shaft I4 is fixedly mounted in the frame members I5 and I3 and extends through the flights of the tapes I2, adjacent the shaft 13 and is provided with a plurality of fixed stripping fingers 15 which extend over the shaft 13 and which are adapted to strip the leading edges of the printed sheets 4| from the open gripper units 41 and direct said leading edges into engagement with the tapes 72, so that the sheets 4| will be thus conveyed by the conveyor II away from the press I3. As previously stated, the cam rollers 51 of the closed gripper unit 41 into the recess 63 and the guide blocks 54 will be seated in the guide notches 69 to accurately position the gripper unit 41 with; in the recess 63 for correctly positioning the engaged sheet 4| relatively to the impression cyl inder 33. As the upper flights of the chains 42 continue to move from left to right and as the cylinder 33 'revolves in a clockwise direction, as seenin Figures l and 2, the sheet 4 will be dis posed smoothly over the packing strip 66 bythe brush I0 so as tor'eceive the impression from the plate 24, after which the gripper unit- 41 will move outo'f the recess 63 and will draw thesheet 4|, after being printed, out of engagement with u the cylinder 33. As the gripper unit 4'! ispa ss gripper units 4I engage the cam 60, located be-.

neath and adjacent the inner end of the conveyor 'II for opening the fingers as the stationary stripper fingers I5 engage under the leading edges of the sheets 4|, so that the sheets will thusbe-released to be conveyed away from the press I3, by the tapes I2.

The frame I4 includes strips of canvas or other material IE which are disposed between the sides I 5 andI 6, beneath the upper flight of the chains 42 and between the feed .board surface 4|] and the cylinders 25 and 33 and between said cylinders and the sprocket wheels 36, for supporting the trailing edge of each sheet of paper 4| in its movement toward and away from the impression cylinder 33.

As best illustrated in Figure 8, the rotary press I3 is preferably provided with sections of guide rails, designated generally 11 which are secured to and project inwardly from the inner sides of the frame sides I5 and I6 and which include surfaces 18 for slidably supporting the flights of the chains 42, and inwardly opening channel portions 19 for receiving and guiding rollers 80, as seen in Figures 8 and 9, which are journaled on the ends of the shafts 50 and 5| and which are disposed on the outer sides of the end plates 48.

From the foregoing it will be readily apparent that the stand of ink rollers 23 will maintain the printing plate 24, covered with a coating of ink ing around the sprocket wheels 36, its roller 41 will again be engaged by the other cam 60 for again opening the fingers 55 as the leading edge of the sheet 4| passes over the stationary stripper fingers 75, so that the sheet will be guided by said fingers into engagement with the upper flights of the tapes 42 to be conveyed away from the printing press thereby.

It will be readily understood that the other gripper unit 47 will accomplish the same conveying of the next sheet 4| through the press I3, and the number of said units 4'! may be varied, depending upon the size of the printing press. Likewise, any number of sets of cylinders 25 and 33 and stands of ro1lers23 may be provided, through which the sheets 4| can be conveyed by the gripper units 47, between the feeder board 35 and the conveyor II, without being released by the gripper unit, for accurately accomplishing multicolor printing. 7 I

Various other modifications and changes are likewise contemplated and may obviously be resorted to, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter definedby the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A sheet gripping and conveying apparatus for use with a rotary type printing press, comprising a pair of driven endless chains having corresponding flights adapted to pass between an impression cylinder and a plate cylinder of a rotary printing press, a sheet gripping unit connected at its ends to corresponding portions of the chains and extending transversely therebetween, said sheet gripping unit including plates pivotally connected to the complementary portions of the chains, 3. pair of shafts extending between said plates and connected thereto, a plurality of spaced fixed gripping fingers each supported by and connected to both of the shafts, one of said shafts being journaled in said plates and in the fixed gripping fingers, movable gripping fingers cooperating with said fixed gripping fingers and secured to said rotatable shaft for oscillating movement therewith, each movable gripping finger having a rear, trailing free end normally disposed in engagement on the upper side of the free ends of one of the fixed gripping fingers whereby said fixed and movable gripping fingers are normally disposed in closed sheet gripping positions, acrank fixed to and depending 'from'the rotatable shaft, a cam roller projecting laterally "from the lower free end of said crank, and means for momentarily opening the gripping unit comprising a stationary cam element disposed in the path of travel of said cam roller having a bottom cam surface beneath which said cam roller is movable for rocking the rotatable shaft to swing the movable gripping fingers away from and out of contact with the trailing ends of the fixed gripping fingers.

2. A sheet gripping and conveying apparatus as in' claim 1, stationary inwardly opening guide channels over the upper surfaces of which said complementary flights of the chains are movable and on which said chain flights are slidably supported, said plates slidably engaging the inner open sides of said stationary guide channels, and rollers journaled on the ends of said shafts and engaging in said guide channels.

3. A sheet gripping and conveying apparatus as in claim 1, each of said fixed gripping fingers having a recessed forward, leading'en'd through which the rotatable shaft extends and in which the leading end of one of the movableg-ripping fingers is swingably disposed and secured to said rotatable shaft.

4. A sheet gripping and conveying apparatus as in claim 1, cert-ainof said fixed gripping fingers having triangular shaped trailing free ends, and a plurality of centering elements adapted to be disposed in a recess'of the impression cylinder each provided with an outwardly opening V-shaped notch for receiving one of said V-shaped free ends to retain the sheet gripping unit against lateral displacement relatively to the longitudinal axis of the printing press and longitudinalmovement relatively to said impression cylinder while the gripping unit is moving with the chains between the cylinders.

E. GLEN SIMIVIONS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 659,277 Wilson Oct. 9, 1900 1,514,049 Ichida Nov. 4, 1924 2,086,227 Huck July 6, 1937 2,231,914 Huck Feb. 18, 1941 2,257,490 Aberle Sept! 30, 1941 2,381,430 'Belluche Aug. 7, 1945 2,425,680 Kaddeland Aug. 12, 1947 2,436,765 Davidson et al Feb. 24, 1948 

